Renae Bunster started her $1 million-a-year business from her kitchen – but there’s a cheeky reason you won’t find her items in supermarkets.
The former TV journalist started making hot sauce for friends a few years ago, but it became a full-time job after a crowd-funding campaign to kickstart the business in 2015 raised $250,000 off a target of $65,000.
Now, Ms Bunster is celebrating a fresh triumph after loyal fans across the world ponied up around $500,000 within days to buy a stake in her company – before the equity raise was even made public. “From the start we realised our name would prohibit stock from getting into shops so we doubled down and went hard by shipping online with really good distribution channels.
She said she would like to see Australia’s major grocery chains do more to help small Australian businesses get their start. “ should either take more of a chance on small Australian businesses or miss this golden opportunity.” Sh*t the Bed Hot sauce is regularly the top-selling hot sauce on Amazon USA and has been enjoyed by a range of celebrities including Natalie Portman, Wiz Kaleefa, Jeff Goldblum and Johnny Knoxville who all ate it on YouTube talk show hitMeanwhile, a Woolworths spokesman told news.com.au it was proud to stock items from many small Aussie businesses.
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